Islamic Jihad: No promise made to halt projectile fire

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Islamic Jihad has not taken a decision to halt projectile fire toward Israeli targets, sources in the movement announced following a news report claiming the contrary on Sunday.

Islamic Jihad is “committed to defending our people and committed to resistance in all possible ways,” a statement from the movement said.

Earlier in the day Israel’s Channel 10 aired a news clip that cited an interview with Islamic Jihad spokesman Daoud Shihab broadcast on the movement’s radio station, where the leader reportedly said it had “stopped the rocket fire into Israel for internal Palestinian purposes – first and foremost to help end the siege on the Gaza Strip.”

Clarifying their position following a series of meetings between de facto government officials and Gaza factions, which Hamas said were aimed at unifying the Gaza Strip position on the current Israeli wave of attacks, the statement said: “meetings with faction leaders on Saturday were held to assert the principle of protecting the Palestinian people and … to discuss the mechanisms to confront the latest Israeli threats.”

The statement noted that meetings were intended to “heighten the level of factional coordination,” but said that there was no discussion of projectile fire during the talks.

“Projectiles are a tactical means used by the resistance according to field circumstances. They are a form of resistance,” and one that Islamic Jihad intends to retain as a viable tool against the continued Israeli siege on Gaza, he said.

The Channel 10 report, however, quoted Shihab as saying projectile fire would be stopped “first and foremost to help end the siege on the Gaza Strip.”